HDR Problems

superflyninja

Hi all,
Ive been trying to get HDR right and its just not happening. At all. What i tend to do is make sure the scene actually warrants HDR, set the camera to A and shoot three bracketed shots, all 1 stop apart. I then import into photomatix and turn light smoothing up. and the result is usually something like the below:


Which I think is pretty poor. I did a little PP on it. Just some minor stuff. But im clearly doing something wrong. Ive never been able to get HDR looking good. IS it a matter of taking more bracketed shots? Or more shots with less of an exposure gap between them?

cheers all

DaireQuinlan

superflyninja wrote: »

Ive never been able to get HDR looking good.

That sounds like as good a place to leave it as any. View it as a mercifully early escape from the "HDR hole"

Effects

You're just not pushing the sliders far enough to the right.

DaireQuinlan

Effects wrote: »

You're just not pushing the sliders far enough to the right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbVKWCpNFhY

Nebezpeci Mys

Am no expert but i don't stick to the 1 stop apart bracketting - you can set them as far apart as you want really. Also, you can use more than 3 shots for 1 image. PP is done in Photomatix, which I find allows a lot of control over the image. Sometimes, running it through tone mapping doesn't work but if you use the blend option, it may be just fine.
The Guide to High Dynamic Range by Ferrell McCollough is a good book to read, if you fancy some.
Good luck!

Farmlife

Why is it that the old school "Real Photographers" hate HDR, reminds me of the motorsport enthusiasts that hate Drifting and the martial artists that hate MMA. We all have our own style, if everyone done street photography or studio work wouldn't the world be so boring...

For HDR check out Trey Ratcliff, some super tips and pointers from him on Youtube

magicbastarder

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbVKWCpNFhY

and there was me thinking along the lines of 'needs more cowbell'.

pullandbang

Farmlife wrote: »

Why is it that the old school "Real Photographers" hate HDR,

It's not just "Old School" togs.

This is why....

http://talkurbex.com/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=9&image_id=3542

Awful sh1te but there's no convincing users that it's bad. They just seem to think it's wonderful!

Effects

Farmlife wrote: »

Why is it that the old school "Real Photographers" hate HDR,

Maybe it's the same way people who like good musicians and bands don't like One Direction.
I think you could have found someone other than Trey to back your point up though, he's got a lot of dreadful HDR photos.

Effects

pullandbang wrote: »

Awful sh1te but there's no convincing users thta it's bad. They just seem to think it's wonderful!

It seems to be a much copied style for urbex shots. Same goes for those old school gas masks.

pullandbang

Effects wrote: »

It seems to be a much copied style for urbex shots. Same goes for those old school gas masks.

Forget the gas masks, that was a phase of urbexers trying to hide their identities. In fact we still have them today using other masks....it's troooooo :-)

But back to HDR. Unfortunately the urbex community is plagued with OTT HDR and ALL of it is absolute sh1te. They destroy potentially beautiful photos by turning them into garish cartoon like images.

Farmlife

pullandbang wrote: »

It's not just "Old School" togs.

This is why....

http://talkurbex.com/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=9&image_id=3542

Awful sh1te but there's no convincing users that it's bad. They just seem to think it's wonderful!

It pops! Show me a one exposure shot from the same angle that looks better. I'm not saying its an award winning shot, it's a snapshot in HDR

Effects wrote: »

Maybe it's the same way people who like good musicians and bands don't like One Direction.
I think you could have found someone other than Trey to back your point up though, he's got a lot of dreadful HDR photos.

Every photographer has dreadful photos, but he has a lot more good than bad. He's made it through HDR and can invest in getting to all corners of the world for more interesting subjects

superflyninja

thanks for the links etc. ill check them out at the weekend. Im not looking to do cartoon style hdr, but hdr that you wouldnt necessarily think is hdr, but myshots always turn out like the above, waaaaay too contrasty.

Kenny Logins

What if you composite the different exposures using good 'ol layer masks instead of a plugin?

magicbastarder

if you are able to produce a HDR image which is not obviously HDRed, more power to you.
if it looks HDRed, you have failed as a human.

melekalikimaka

everytime you process in hdr, a baby dies


FACT

challengemaster

Use HDR Pro in CS6 rather than photomatix, you might get better results. Also post up the bracketed shots, it might not have been suited to HDR...

Zillah

Farmlife wrote: »

Why is it that the old school "Real Photographers" hate HDR, reminds me of the motorsport enthusiasts that hate Drifting and the martial artists that hate MMA. We all have our own style, if everyone done street photography or studio work wouldn't the world be so boring...

For HDR check out Trey Ratcliff, some super tips and pointers from him on Youtube

I really don't think it has anything to do with being old school. I've barely touched film in my life and I think HDR looks ugly and tacky.

EDIT:

Anyway, I think you probably gave up far too quickly, you mostly just needed to fix all that blue:

pete4130

These are all HDR shots that aren't too obvious or overcooked. Some are 9 shots ranging from -4 to +4 exposures, some are from a single RAW file. The more you bracket the more natural they look. Don't push sliders too far, desaturate to bring it back to normal. Less is more.

Yes, sometimes I slip into the HDR hole.

DaireQuinlan

pete4130 wrote: »

These are all HDR shots that aren't too obvious or overcooked. Some are 9 shots ranging from -4 to +4 exposures, some are from a single RAW file. The more you bracket the more natural they look. Don't push sliders too far, desaturate to bring it back to normal. Less is more.

Yes, sometimes I slip into the HDR hole.

See, now you've gone and upset the groupthink *head asplode*

challengemaster

pete4130 wrote: »

These are all HDR shots that aren't too obvious or overcooked. Some are 9 shots ranging from -4 to +4 exposures, some are from a single RAW file. The more you bracket the more natural they look. Don't push sliders too far, desaturate to bring it back to normal. Less is more.

Yes, sometimes I slip into the HDR hole.

I'd agree, if you use HDR for it's actual intended purpose, to increase the dynamic range of an image and the amount of detail in the image, rather than creating overcooked 'typica' HDR shots, it can actually be quite useful and get good results.

ShaneWalshEire

Ah there is nothing wrong with a bit of HDR



lol OK joking aside, I have done a lot of HDR over the years and its something that requires skill.

Its not just done with Photomatix but with a combination of Photoshop & maybe some Efex, well with me anyway.

You want to stay well away from the nuked over cooked images and stick with some nice color contrasts while avoiding noise.

There are plenty of tutorials on the tube so go check them out..

Promac

HDR is equivalent to dodging and burning. Do it or don't do it - it's not new and don't let the snobs put you off. It's not for every photograph or subject or audience but there are perfectly valid situations for it and it's a perfectly valid technique that's worth getting the hang of, even if you never go back to it, it'll teach you a little bit about range and exposure.

superflyninja

Yup pete some of those are more for what Im going for. The second image (the chairs in the room), how many shots is that made from? did you use photomatix?

superflyninja

Zillah wrote: »

I really don't think it has anything to do with being old school. I've barely touched film in my life and I think HDR looks ugly and tacky.

EDIT:

Anyway, I think you probably gave up far too quickly, you mostly just needed to fix all that blue:

true, i didnt do a massive amount to it, was way too put off by the contrast etc

Cookie P74

Great shots Pete and examples of HDR being used to create compelling pictures.

amdgilmore

Without wanting to offend, and bearing in mind that I'm a useless photographer, all of those indoor shots would fall into the 'overcooked' category for me. They're instantly recognisable as HDR, and not just because of the lighting.

The BMXing ones seem fine (I presume those were the single raw HDRs).

I don't think anybody would be offended by HDR if it was just a question of improving the dynamic range, the problem is that even the examples I've been shown of 'HDR-done-well' seem inevitably to have a weird grittiness about the textures.

I don't have any objection to the idea behind it, and I can see the practical applications, like architecture and interior design (although I'd be lying if I said I saw the artistic application of basically removing all the shadows from a scene - but that's just me), I just don't think the software people are using is up to the job.

Personally I'd stick with bracketing + photoshop layers if I wanted to create a high dynamic range effect. It might be more time consuming but from what I've seen the results tend to be a lot more convincing.

bldwalsh

For me HDR is down completely taste. I personally love HDR images. I love the detail and tonality to the image. Now when i produce a HDR shot i do more often then not over do it as it were as thats what i like. It's not for all but then again what is. What i find funny is way some people are so against it. If you don't like just ignore it.

For me all the images above as examples of good HDR are fantastic, i only wish i could produce something similar. Heres hoping maybe some day.

pete4130

superflyninja wrote: »

Yup pete some of those are more for what Im going for. The second image (the chairs in the room), how many shots is that made from? did you use photomatix?

That was a 9 shot sequence. -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +4. It's a bit overkill. -4, -2, 0, +2 & +4 would have been fine. My camera doesn't bracket by 2 stops so I had the shots to use anyway. It was processed in Photomatix.

It increases contrast and saturation a whole lot. In photoshop everytime you make an adjustment you have to tease the saturation and contrast back down.

@amdgilmore

They are recognisable as HDR's, without a doubt. they are examples that haven't been overcooked in the sense that a lot of HDR's are & to show you can make more pleasing images with HDR techniques than most people would give credit for. These images at least have some shadow in them.
The nature of creating an HDR and increasing it's dynamic range is overcooking it.

Effects

"If an image is worth a thousand words, imagine what seven images are worth." Brian Matiash

DaireQuinlan

Effects wrote: »

"If an image is worth a thousand words, imagine what seven images are worth." Brian Matiash

sweet jeebus. Pullandbang, look away ! LOOK AWAY NOW !

Great quote though. It reminds me of that piss take Gillette piece from years back where they were extolling the benefits of 5 blades. Then Gillette went and actually did it. And irony died.